Spinnin' Around

Don't let your vocabulary skills yo-yo! National Yo-Yo Day is June 6th, so after you practice your "walk-the-dog," learn these terms related to the metaphor "yo-yo" — having a tendency to make progress, only to regress shortly after.

New research suggests that a blood test five years after breast cancer treatment may help identify some women who are likely to
relapse, long before a lump or other signs appear.Seattle Times (Dec 8, 2017)

Relapse describes falling back into patterns or a returning to a previous state of ill health. Although technically it means “fall into a former state,” one would never say that he “relapsed into happiness” or that the former millionaire who lost it all and then regained it “relapsed into a fortune”. It is the “fall” part of the definition that is crucial here — someone who relapses is at a lower state than they were.

The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore says Uber and Grab
reneged on a promise to brief it fully on the details of the transaction before the deal was announced.New York Times (May 28, 2018)

More of a conscious choice than sliding down the slippery slope of relapse, renege is a verb meaning to “deny, renounce, abandon.” To renege on a former promise means that expectations collapse like a slack yo-yo string.

The Mental Health Specialty Court Act of 2017 became law Aug. 1 and aims to reduce
recidivism rates using “evidence-based practices of supervision, policies, procedures and practices.”Washington Times (May 29, 2018)

Recidivism is a term used to describe repeatedly committing illegal or immoral acts. English adapted this word from French which took it from Latin
recidivare, “to relapse into sin.”

The lunar event was heralded as the #SuperBlueBloodMoon because the moon is near its
perigee, or the closest point in its orbit to the Earth, according to EarthSky.org.Seattle Times (Jan 31, 2018)

A circling, spinning yo-yo most resembles a planet moving around the sun, or the moon in orbit around Earth.
Perigee refers to the point in at which the orbiting object is closest to the object it is spinning around.